2025–26 EFL Cup
| Carabao Cup | |
|---|---|
 Wembley Stadium will host the final in March | |
| Tournament details | |
| Country | England Wales |
| Dates | 29 July 2025 – 22 March 2026[1] |
| Teams | 92 |
| Defending champions | Newcastle United |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 1 |
| Goals scored | 4 (4 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,789 (1,789 per match) |
The 2025–26 EFL Cup is the 65th and current season of the English Football League Cup. It is sponsored by Carabao Energy Drink and known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons. The EFL Cup was open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League.
The winner of the competition qualifies for the play-off round of the 2026–27 UEFA Conference League.
Newcastle United are the defending champions, having beaten Liverpool in the previous season's final.
Teams
[edit]All 92 clubs in the Premier League and English Football League entered the season's EFL Cup. Access was distributed across the top 4 leagues of the English football league system.
There will be a preliminary round before the first one due to the number of teams participating in Europe. This round consists of the two newly promoted sides to 2025–26 League Two – Barnet and Oldham Athletic – and the two lowest finishers not relegated from 2024–25 League Two, Accrington Stanley and Newport County.[2]
| [2] | Clubs entering in this round | Clubs advancing from previous round | Number of games | Week commencing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary round (4 clubs) |
|
|
2 | 4 August 2025 |
| First round (70 clubs) |
|
|
35 | 11 August 2025 |
| Second round (46 clubs) |
|
|
23 | 25 August 2025 |
| Third round (32 clubs) |
|
|
16 | 15 September 2025 22 September 2025 |
| Fourth round (16 clubs) |
— |
|
8 | 27 October 2025 |
| Quarter-finals (8 clubs) |
— |
|
4 | 15 December 2025 |
| Semi-finals (4 clubs) |
— |
|
4 (two-legged) | 12 January 2026 2 February 2026 |
| Final (2 clubs) |
— |
|
1 | 25 March 2026 |
Preliminary round
[edit]A total of four teams will play in the preliminary round: two newly-promoted sides from National League (tier 5), and two lowest non-relegated League Two sides (tier 4). The draw for this round was split on a geographical basis into "northern" and "southern" sections, where teams were drawn against a team from the same section. The draw was made on 26 June 2025 by Shay Given and John Barnes.[3]
| Premier League[a] | Championship[b] | League One[c] | League Two | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
20 / 20
|
24 / 24
|
24 / 24
|
24 / 24
|
92 / 92
|
Northern section
[edit]| 5 August 2025 | Accrington Stanley (4) | v | Oldham Athletic (4) | Accrington |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Crown Ground |
Southern section
[edit]| 29 July 2025 | Barnet (4) | 2–2 (2–4 p) | Newport County (4) | Edgware |
| 19:30 BST | Galvin  90+7'Browne 90+9' |
Report | Antwi 31' Reindorf 42' |
Stadium: The Hive Stadium Attendance: 1,789 Referee: Darren Drysdale |
| Penalties | ||||
Adeniran  Browne Hugill  Smith |
Garner Lloyd Antwi Kamwa Ca. Evans |
|||
First round
[edit]A total of 70 teams will play in the first round: 2 winners from the preliminary round, 20 from League Two (tier 4), 24 from League One (tier 3), and 24 from the Championship (tier 2). The draw for this round was split on a geographical basis into "northern" and "southern" sections, where teams were drawn against a team from the same section. The draw was made on 26 June 2025 by Shay Given and John Barnes.[3]
| Premier League[a] | Championship | League One | League Two | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
20 / 20
|
24 / 24
|
24 / 24
|
22 / 24
|
90 / 92
|
- ^ Premier League teams joined the competition in the second and third rounds.
Northern section
[edit]| 12 August 2025 | Barrow (4) | v | Preston North End (2) | Barrow-in-Furness |
| 19:30 BST | Report | Stadium: Holker Street |
| 12 August 2025 | Middlesbrough (2) | v | Doncaster Rovers (3) | Middlesbrough |
| 19:30 BST | Report | Stadium: Riverside Stadium |
| 12 August 2025 | Stockport County (3) | v | Crewe Alexandra (4) | Stockport |
| 19:30 BST | Report | Stadium: Edgeley Park |
| 12 August 2025 | Accrington Stanley (4) or Oldham Athletic (4) | v | Peterborough United (3) | Accrington or Oldham |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Crown Ground or Boundary Park |
| 12 August 2025 | Blackburn Rovers (2) | v | Bradford City (3) | Blackburn |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Ewood Park |
| 12 August 2025 | Chesterfield (4) | v | Mansfield Town (3) | Chesterfield |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: SMH Group Stadium |
| 12 August 2025 | Grimsby Town (4) | v | Shrewsbury Town (4) | Cleethorpes |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Blundell Park |
| 12 August 2025 | Harrogate Town (4) | v | Lincoln City (3) | Harrogate |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Wetherby Road |
| 12 August 2025 | Salford City (4) | v | Rotherham United (3) | Salford |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Moor Lane |
| 12 August 2025 | Stoke City (2) | v | Walsall (4) | Stoke-on-Trent |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Bet365 Stadium |
| 12 August 2025 | Tranmere Rovers (4) | v | Burton Albion (3) | Birkenhead |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Prenton Park |
| 12 August 2025 | West Bromwich Albion (2) | v | Derby County (2) | West Bromwich |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: The Hawthorns |
| 12 August 2025 | Wigan Athletic (3) | v | Notts County (4) | Wigan |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Brick Community Stadium |
| 13 August 2025 | Bolton Wanderers (3) | v | Sheffield Wednesday (2) | Bolton |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Toughsheet Community Stadium |
| 13 August 2025 | Huddersfield Town (3) | v | Leicester City (2) | Huddersfield |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Kirklees Stadium |
| 13 August 2025 | Birmingham City (2) | v | Sheffield United (2) | Birmingham |
| 20:00 BST | Report | Stadium: St Andrew's |
Southern section
[edit]| 12 August 2025 | Swansea City (2) | v | Crawley Town (4) | Swansea |
| 19:00 BST | Report | Stadium: Swansea.com Stadium |
| 12 August 2025 | Newport County (4) | v | Millwall (2) | Newport |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Rodney Parade |
| 12 August 2025 | Bristol City (2) | v | Milton Keynes Dons (4) | Bristol |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Ashton Gate |
| 12 August 2025 | Bristol Rovers (4) | v | Cambridge United (4) | Bristol |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Memorial Stadium |
| 12 August 2025 | Cardiff City (3) | v | Swindon Town (4) | Cardiff |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Cardiff City Stadium |
| 12 August 2025 | Charlton Athletic (2) | v | Stevenage (3) | Charlton |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: The Valley |
| 12 August 2025 | Coventry City (2) | v | Luton Town (3) | Coventry |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Coventry Building Society Arena |
| 12 August 2025 | Gillingham (4) | v | AFC Wimbledon (3) | Gillingham |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Priestfield Stadium |
| 12 August 2025 | Leyton Orient (3) | v | Wycombe Wanderers (3) | Leyton |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Brisbane Road |
| 12 August 2025 | Northampton Town (3) | v | Southampton (2) | Northampton |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Sixfields Stadium |
| 12 August 2025 | Oxford United (2) | v | Colchester United (4) | Oxford |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Kassam Stadium |
| 12 August 2025 | Plymouth Argyle (3) | v | Queens Park Rangers (2) | Plymouth |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Home Park |
| 12 August 2025 | Portsmouth (2) | v | Reading (3) | Portsmouth |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Fratton Park |
| 12 August 2025 | Watford (2) | v | Norwich City (2) | Watford |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Vicarage Road |
| 12 August 2025 | Bromley (4) | v | Ipswich Town (2) | Bromley |
| 20:00 BST | Report | Stadium: Hayes Lane |
| 13 August 2025 | Cheltenham Town (4) | v | Exeter City (3) | Cheltenham |
| 19:45 BST | Report | Stadium: Whaddon Road |
References
[edit]- ^ "Carabao Cup format confirmed for 2025/26 season". English Football League. 12 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Carabao Cup brings in preliminary round for 2025-26". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Carabao Cup Round One confirmed". English Football League. 26 June 2025.